150 SWORDFISH. 



displayed a minute acquaintance with the habits of this fish. 

 A bait was employed, but it was fastened with a sliding noose 

 to the line at a distance above a naked hook; and the whole 

 was so contrived that when the Swordfish seized the bait with 

 its mouth, it should glide along, until, by the force of its 

 motion, it was thrust upon the hook below, the sudden shock 

 of which was a signal to the fisherman of the success of his 

 skill. The Swordfish is said to be fond of the society of its 

 fellows, and not to wander without some one to accompany 

 him; and this again formed the foundation of a stratagem to 

 entice it to its destruction. An artificial imitation was made of 

 its own form, and when, in obedience to the attraction, it was 

 brought near the boats that closed around it, the dart was 

 thrown; and when, in spite of its struggles, it was dragged 

 within reach, a blow upon the head deprived it of the power of 

 further resistance. 



A usual length of this fish is from eight to ten feet, but 

 Willoughby, as well as Rondeletius, have known it to reach 

 to fifteen feet. An example which measured seven feet and a 

 half, was, in its greatest depth, one foot, and in thickness 

 nine inches. In a fish ten feet in length, the girth was three 

 feet. The comparative length of the snout or sword appears 

 to vary, since in some it is described as equal to the length 

 of the body, and in others to one third. At its origin the 

 breadth of this organ is about the fifth part of its length, 

 from whence it proceeds flat and tapering to a point. The 

 under jaw is short, pointed, and about a fourth part of the 

 length of the upper; but there is reason to suppose that the 

 relative length of the two is more equal in young examples. 

 The head slopes from the front of the dorsal fin to the begin- 

 ning of the snout. Eye large and prominent. Body thick near 

 the head, a little compressed further back, becoming more 

 slender near the tail, and, at the root of this organ, above and 

 below, a depression. On the sides, behind, a raised border or 

 keel, as in the Tunny. The scales hid in the skin. 



The dorsal fin begins very high, opposite the edge of the 

 hindmost gill-cover, and it passes on, narrower, to near the 

 tail, where the last rays are again lengthened; and, in old 

 examples, the middle rays of this fin have altogether disappeared. 

 The vent is behind the middle of the body; and the anal 



